Navy scans ocean for 36 missing off Guinea coast

CONAKRY, Guinea (AP) — The Guinean navy is scouring the coast off of Guinea's capital, Conakry, looking for around 36 people still missing after their overloaded canoe capsized in inclement weather.

On Friday, officials retrieved eight bodies, including six women and two children.

A forensic doctor at the municipal morgue let an Associated Press reporter see the corpses, and pointed out that several had traces of blood coming out of their nose — a sign, he said, that their lungs had burst.

Raphael Bangoura, commander of the port of Bolbinet where the incident happened, said Saturday that around 65 people were aboard the canoe, and that 21 have been saved.

Counting the eight dead, he says that that means roughly 36 people could still be in the water.